Croatia travel guide

An insider's guide to Croatia, featuring the country's best places to stay and things to do, including advice on getting there and around. By Jane Foster, Telegraph Travel's Croatia expert. Click on the tabs below.

Jane Foster is a travel writer based in Athens and Dubrovnik. She has written guidebooks on the Balkans, Croatia, and Greece and writes for various UK and US newspapers. She has a degree in Architecture and speaks English, Italian, Croatian and Greek.

Croatia became the 28th member of the European Union on July 1, 2013. While Eurosceptics question the long-term future of the EU, this was undoubtedly a landmark in Croatia’s history. The War of Independence (1991-1995) and the subsequent break-up of Yugoslavia had left the country damaged politically, economically and spiritually.

Since then, Croatia has tried to build a new identity, combining both its natural and cultural heritage with a clear vision of the future. “The Mediterranean as it once was,” says the Croatian National Tourist Board motto, with a 21st-century nod towards respect for the environment and sustainable tourism.

Croatia is now easier to visit than ever before.

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A country of dramatic mountainous landscapes and dreamy deep-blue seascapes, Croatia is now easier to visit than ever before. Big improvements have been made in the national infrastructure: the motorway network has been extended and modernised, and many hotels have been renovated and given a fresh look with slick contemporary designs. It has also become much easier to reach, with more and more airlines now flying from Britain to Croatia.

Tourism here has a long history – there are traces of Roman summer villas on the Dalmatian islands – but it was first developed on a large scale during the Yugoslav era, when big modern resort hotels, equipped with excellent sports facilities, were built along the Croatian coast. Sports were, and still are, tremendously important.

With
a population of just 4.3million, Croatia’s sporting success is remarkable – at the 2012 Olympics, Croatia won three golds (men’s
water-polo, men’s shooting, and women’s discus), a silver (men’s rowing), and
two bronzes (men’s handball and women’s taekwondo). In terms of tourism, many lovers of the great outdoors
come to Croatia specifically for its adventure-sports facilities – between the
sea and the mountains, sailing, scuba diving, sea kayaking, rafting, mountain
biking and rock climbing are all on offer.

For those in search of history and culture, city destinations such as Zagreb, Dubrovnik (pictured), Split and Zadar offer Roman, Byzantine, Venetian and Austro-Hungarian monuments.

AP

For those in search of history and culture, city destinations such as Zagreb, Dubrovnik, Split and Zadar offer Roman, Byzantine, Venetian and Austro-Hungarian monuments. In fact, the historic centres of Dubrovnik and Split are Unesco world heritage sites, as are the cathedrals in Trogir and Sibenik and the basilica in Porec. Against this backdrop of splendid historic buildings, these cities stage summer festivals, hosting open-air concerts and theatre after dark, often attracting notable international performers.

While Croatia’s rocky stretch of Adriatic coast is not suitable for large-scale tourist development (there are none of the long sandy beaches found in Greece and Spain), it is astoundingly beautiful, offering numerous small pebble coves backed by pinewoods and giving on to a crystal-clear turquoise sea.

This combination of timeless unspoilt nature coupled with beautifully preserved centuries-old architecture and a lively contemporary cultural scene, including an ever-growing number of electronic and alternative music festivals, promises rewarding memories for anyone who wishes to explore it now.

Croatia is astoundingly beautiful.

When to go

If you are not tied to school holidays, the best time to visit Croatia is during the “shoulder-season” months of May and June and September and October. Then you can expect pleasant sunny days ideal for swimming in the sea and sunbathing, with all the tourist facilities up and running but no crowds. It’s also the perfect time for outdoor activities such as hiking, mountain-biking, rafting and sea-kayaking. In contrast, the peak season of July and August sees the coastal resorts extremely busy, with soaring temperatures and a steep rise in hotel room prices – on the plus side you get open-air cultural events and a buzzing cosmopolitan nightlife.

In low season, November to April, many hotels and attractions along the
coast close down for winter, and the weather becomes chilly and unreliable.
However, at this time of year you might come across some excellent offers on
low-cost flights and city hotels (most notably in
Dubrovnik and Zagreb), and you’ll get a better feeling for how the
locals live.

Where to go

The region you choose to visit will depend on what you’re looking for – a
chill-out holiday on the beach with watersports as an option, a sailing holiday
around the islands, an adventure-sports break with hiking, mountain-biking and
rafting included, a foodie holiday with vineyard visits, or a cultural city
break.

If you’re
visiting Croatia for one week, stick to one region and concentrate on what it
has to offer. If you’re planning to be there for longer, you can combine two or
more regions to get a better overview of the diverse landscapes and contrasting
regional identities.

Getting there

Flights

There are year-round flights between London and Zagreb, and London and Dubrovnik. In summer, there’s also a good choice of budget airlines serving various destinations along the coast. Flight times from London to Zagreb are 2hrs 15min, London to Dubrovnik 2hrs 40min, Manchester to Split 2hrs 50min, and Manchester to Dubrovnik 3hrs.

If you are not tied to school holidays, the best time to visit Croatia is during the “shoulder-season” months of May and June and September and October.

EasyJet (0330 365 5000; easyjet.com) flies to Zagreb from London Gatwick; to Dubrovnik from Edinburgh, London Gatwick and London Stansted; and to Split from Bristol, Glasgow, London Gatwick, London Luton, London Stansted, Manchester and Newcastle.

There are numerous small pebble coves backed by pinewoods and giving on to a crystal-clear turquoise sea.

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Monarch (0333 003 0100; monarch.co.uk) flies to Dubrovnik from Birmingham, London Gatwick and Manchester, and to Split from Birmingham.

Ryanair (0871 246 0000; ryanair.com) flies to Pula from London Stansted; to Rijeka from London Stansted; and to Zadar from Manchester and London Stansted; and to Osijek from London Stansted.

Thomson Airways (0203 451 2688; flights.thomson.co.uk) flies to Dubrovnik from Birmingham, Bristol, Glasgow, London Gatwick, Manchester and Newcastle, and to Pula from Birmingham, Bristol, London Gatwick and Manchester.

Wizz Air (0907 292 0102; wizzair.com) flies to Split from London Luton.

Ferries & catamarans

It’s also possible to arrive in Croatia by ferry or catamaran from Italy. The Croatian company Jadrolinija (jadrolinija.hr) runs overnight ferries from Ancona to Split and Ancona to Zadar (June-Sept), and Dubrovnik to Bari (Apr-Oct). Blue Line (blueline-ferries.com) also covers the Ancona-Split route (Apr-Oct).

In summer only, the Italian company SNAV (snav.it) runs an overnight ferry from Ancona to Split (all year), and a high-speed daytime catamaran from Ancona to Split (July-Aug), while Venezia Lines (venezialines.com) operates catamarans from Venice to Porec, Rovinj and Pula in Istria (Apr-Oct).

A combination of timeless unspoilt nature coupled with beautifully preserved centuries-old architecture and a lively contemporary cultural scene promises rewarding memories for anyone who wishes to explore it now.

AP

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